Seven Year Itch

Their divorce was a model of modern divorce. Contact between the estranged husband and wife was kept to a minimum. The prenuptial agreement spelled out how the assets of the marriage would be divided. A certified check for the wife's agreed upon settlement awaited the necessary signatures. DNA tests had proven that the husband was not the father of either of the minor children produced during the marriage. Their existence was almost totally ignored during the legal process. A small college fund was the only totem mention of them.

Documents were signed, hands were shaken, and payment was made. The estranged couple bid each other well and left the conference room never to meet again.

This was the end of the seven year marriage of John and Linda Franklin.

John Franklin went home to his new life. The pre-nup had protected the only child he had left, Franklin Enterprises, Inc... John redoubled his commitment to the company and in the next 5 years the business thrived under his management.

In spite of his best efforts John Franklin also found love. He hadn't wanted to love again. In many ways he struggled against the feeling. Donna Davis Franklin had come into his life like a Cajun hurricane. She was beautiful, smart, and fun and everything John could ever ask for in a woman. John had thought he never wanted to love again. Now he never wanted to be away from her.

John and Donna married after dating 4 months. Donna gave birth to William (John's father's name) Emory (Donna's father's name) Franklin exactly one year later. John was ashamed of himself but he had to know. A secret DNA test result indicated that William Emory Franklin was his son with a 99.4% probability.

John sat in the rocking chair holding his sleeping son. He wondered at the miracle of birth. John was amazed at how quickly you can fall in love. He loved William the moment he saw him. As John rocked William he thought back to David and Melissa Franklin. They were the children of Linda Franklin, his ex-wife. John wondered if "ex children" was a word.

He remembered that day over seven years ago. Melissa was only two months old. David was her older brother at 18 months of age. Melissa was sick and the doctors were having a difficult time diagnosing the cause. A battery of tests had been ordered. One of the tests included genetic profiling for the entire family. The results of the tests helped kept Melissa alive but they killed the marriage of John and Linda Franklin.

John remembered reviewing the results with a specialist his lawyer had hired. John was not the biological father of either child. In a surprising twist, David and Melissa had different fathers.

John remembered the pain of the revelations. He had loved Linda and her betrayal hurt him. But the loss of his children struck him to his soul.

John reasoned like all sane modern men should. He recalled the old saying "Living a good life is the best revenge." He knew that is what he had done. If he was still with Linda he would never have found Donna. He wouldn't be here rocking his son William. He was lucky in so many ways.

He had no idea what had happened to Linda or her children. The divorce settlement had been fair but he knew she would have to go back to work. Her parents lived nearby so she and the children had a support system.

For the first time he wondered about her. Had Linda gone back to her lovers? Did they have a good laugh at her cuckold husband? He wondered about how many men Linda had to get tested in order to find her children's fathers. He knew he needed answers to these questions. John didn't understand why but he needed to know the identity of the two men who had fathered their children.

John looked back in time trying to piece together clues as to who these men were. Linda worked until she was pregnant with David. Her workplace seemed to be a good starting point. He also remembered the regular girl's nights with her friends. These two areas were where he would start his search

Linda had worked as a secretary at the law offices of Harrison and Butler LLC. It was a small practice consisting of Ben Harrison and Fred Butler. He remembered Ben as a sixty four year old grandfather. His partner Fred Butler was a bit younger at 50 years of age. Fred was a lifelong bachelor. He is still practicing law, in fact Fred was John's corporate attorney. He couldn't remember their firm having any junior partners.

John set up a meeting with Fred Butler. He didn't know how to start his interrogation so he simply went with the truth. After some small talk John asked his attorney "Do you know of anyone Linda may have had an affair with while working for you"

Fred Butler was taken back by the question. Fred said "Are you accusing me of having an affair with Linda? Also why are you asking now, seven years after your divorce?"

John looked at Fred and asked "Did you have an affair with Linda?"

Fred Butler laughed at the suggestion. He never thought his deception could have been so successful. Fred replied "Linda was a beautiful woman and we enjoyed having her work for us. John dear, you are more my type than Linda."

John was embarrassed by his attorney's announcement. John stuttered "I'm sorry Fred. I never knew."

Fred smiled at his clueless client. "Not every homosexual dresses in drag and becomes a hair dresser. I'm just a regular man who enjoys other regular men."

John regained his composure. He said "Think back for me Fred. Do you remember any other attorneys or maybe clients she might have been a little too friendly with?"

One name came immediately to mind. Fred wondered why he never thought about it, he told John "David Jenkins." We handled all his incorporation papers and all his business when he started Jenkins Mechanical. Linda worked very closely with David. You know they are now married?"

John replied "I didn't know she had remarried. But I it just makes sense, she likes the security of a man."

Fred said "Yes they married 4 years ago. They have 2 children."

John had never met David Jenkins although Franklin Enterprises was Jenkins Mechanical's largest customer. Thinking back he realized he had very little communication with the man who should have been wining and dining him for his business. Now, he had an answer for David's distance. John also knew how to get his revenge if David was one of two men he wanted to find.

John knew he had to be certain before he started his plan. He would need a DNA sample to prove his theory. But how to get a sample was the problem. It proved to be easy in the end.

John drove by Jenkins Mechanical and recognized David Jenkins by the photos he had posted on Facebook. As David approached the front door he threw a coffee cup in to the trash can. Thirty seconds later John was driving to the genetics lab with his sample. Ten days later the results came in. David Jenkins was the father of David Franklin. John was angry when he realized Linda had named the child he had thought was his after her lover.

One down, one to go. Fred Butler hadn't given John any other names. It seemed like Linda's "girl's night out" times were the next area to explore.

John knew that Linda had told him that her girl's group consisted of mainly her high school friends. Linda had a large group of friends from High School, both male and female. He went online and purchased copies of Linda's high school yearbooks for her junior and senior years.

As he looked at Linda's senior picture he thought about how beautiful she was. Linda was in several photos in the year book. There was her senior picture, 4 different club pictures, her field hockey team and three candid photos of her. It seemed the photographer liked her. He wrote down the names of three boys who were in multiple photos with her, James "Jimmy" Jacobs, Phil Hodges and Melvin "Mel" Jones. John had graduated 3 three years earlier and realized Mel was the younger brother of two boys he had gone to school with. Simon Jones, Mel's oldest brother, worked for John as a driver.

Could Mel Jones be the father of Melissa Franklin? It seemed too easy but John knew that often the simplest explanation was the truest. John searched Facebook and found Mel Jones. Mel had moved to Maryland 3 years ago.

John Franklin led the next driver safety meeting. He spoke to the drivers telling them how important they were to the company. He talked about how their driving habits reflected on the whole company. He made his short speech and sat for the rest of the meeting. He watched Simon Jones for the entire meeting. His eyes followed Simon as he finished his doughnut and coffee. Before Simon reached the trash can John stopped him and said hello. After the two men finished catching up John and Simon threw their cups in the trash. They were the last to leave making recovery of Simon's cup very easy.

Ten days later, the results were in. Simon was a blood relative of Melissa Franklin. John knew that Simon Jones was the uncle of Melissa, Mel Jones was her father.

John was proud of his detective skills. He had located both of the men who had cuckolded him. He knew what to do with David Jenkins but didn't know how to get revenge on Mel Jones.

He investigated Mel Jones. Once again Facebook was extremely helpful. Mel was an over the road truck driver based in Brandenburg Maryland. He was single but had many photos of his fiancé on line. He liked to bowl and party. He loved Donald Trump and thought the second amendment was more scared than the bible. His account gave John all the information he needed.

John had a straight forward plan. He would ruin David Jenkins or at least severely cripple his company. As the owner of his own business John knew the effect his company's demise would have on Jenkins. Mel Jones would be handled a little more caveman style.

John had a set weekly meeting with Daniel Smith his production manager. Daniel could be imposing but was a hard worker who knew how to motivate others. Only John knew that Daniel had served five years in prison. Daniel has beaten his wife's lover within an inch of his life.

John asked Daniel to review alternate sources for the services Jenkins Mechanical provided. Daniel wondered out loud as to why John would want to change vendors. He told John "we have always had the internal option to turn to. We would need to hire 5 or 6 techs but the switch would be easy enough. Why make the change Boss?

John was used to feedback from Daniel. The major reason Daniel had been promoted was his ability to give feedback. He wasn't going to try and BS Daniel. John looked at Daniel and said "I don't want to do business with David Jenkins."

"Is that because he married your ex? Boss that is old news." Daniel replied.

John said "I don't care about him fucking her now. I just learned he was fucking her when we were married. The boy David Franklin is his biological son."

Daniel stood and said "Damn good reason to me Boss. I think we can make the switch very quickly. In fact, I think we can steal at least 4 or 5 of his people to fill our openings. Jenkins wages are not very competitive with ours. I'll review our agreement with Fred Butler and let you know when we can make the switch."

As Daniel left John asked him to sit for just a minute. John said "I need to ask you a question man to man." Daniel nodded. John continued "if you had it to do over would you still beat that man."

Daniel looked at his Boss and replied "I have learned there are many options when it comes to fighting. You can fight your enemy the way you are proposing to me. What you want to do will really hurt Jenkins Mechanical. For a man like David Jenkins it will be far worse than the beating I gave my ex's lover."

John said "You haven't answered my question."

Daniel nodded and said "True revenge involves taking what your enemy loves most. If my foe had been David Jenkins I would have loved to do to him what you are going to do. But my ex's guy was a womanizer. He is not a womanizer now. I don't think he can even pee straight." After a pause Daniel added "I would change one thing, I wouldn't get caught."

John shook Daniel's hand. "Thank you" he said. "I won't get caught."

Donna watched her husband as John packed for a three day business trip. John rarely travelled for business and he seemed to be preoccupied. Even last night as they made love she sensed something was bothering him. Sex had just begun again after the birth of William. Donna worried that John might not desire her. Her body hadn't returned to its normal condition. She promised herself to step up her workout program.

John sat in the older model sedan outside the bar named Danny's in a rough neighborhood of Brandenburg. Facebook photos had shown this place to be Mel Jones' favorite hangout. John went over the mental checklist once again. Jones was a large man at 6'4" and approximately 250 pounds. John knew Jones outweighed him by 50 pounds. John also knew that Jones was probably armed.

At 1am Mel Jones walked out of Danny's. Apparently he was unlucky tonight as he walked to his truck alone. He was soon to discover have truly unlucky he was that night.

Mel Jones got in his truck and turned the key. Nothing happened. He got out of the truck and opened the hood. As he leaned over the fender cussing at his truck he felt a sharp pain to his ribcage. The first blow was followed by several hard blows to his body. The hood slammed on his hands as he fell. Mel Jones fell to his knees with his hands closed inside the hood. As Mel lost conscious the blows became hard kicks to his groin. Two final blows broke the big man's arms.

The assault on Mel Jones lasted a mere 45 seconds. The physical effects of the beating would last a lifetime. The bar had security cameras but somehow the one covering this area of the parking lot was unplugged.

John's heart raced as he drove down the road. He parked the car on a side street and walked back to his motel. He left the keys in the ignition. A friend of a friend would be picking it up shortly. The 34 ounce Louisville slugger baseball bat was on the bottom of the Potomac River.

He spent the next two days discussing a merge plan with a competitor. Franklin Enterprises would acquire the company in a stock exchange. The two companies had wonderful synergies and John looked forward to the future venture.

John sat at his desk as Daniel Smith and David Jenkins entered his office. Jenkins looked nervous as he sat. After a minute of silence David Jenkins started to talk but John cut him off.

John said "I understand you have some questions concerning our bringing in-house the tasks your company has provided us in the past."

David Jenkins started again. "Well Mr. Franklin. John interrupted him again. "Please call me John, after all we have so much in common."

David knew now the real reason for his company losing this contact. He started for the third time "I was afraid my marriage might have been the reason for this reversal. But it has been seven years since your divorce and... John interrupted him again.

John said "I have no interest in who my ex-wife invites into her bed after our divorce. Once we divorced she could continue her sexual antics in any manner she chooses. What I do care about is who she fucked while we were married. And Mr. Jenkins you are one of the men she fucked while we were married."

David Jenkins knew he was in deep trouble. He started his response "John, your actions will cost several innocent men their jobs. It is not fair to them."

John looked at Daniel and asked "How many of Jenkins' men do we usually have on site? Have we made job offers to all of them?

Daniel replied, "We usually have 6 or 7 men working. We have made offers to 5 of them. The other two we don't want. But I have interviewed 3 other employees of Jenkins Mechanical who I will be making job offers to"

John looked at David and said "see no one loses their job, except maybe you."

David Jenkins was angry now, looking at John he shouted "Now I see the man who couldn't keep his wife satisfied. The kind of man who can just abandon his kids. I took your kids in like they were my own and I'm raising them because you are too big of a coward."

John replied with a calm, cold voice "You are half right, only one of those children is ours to raise. The other child's father is unknown to me."

John saw the look on David Jenkins' face. He smiled, Jenkins doesn't know. He doesn't know that David is really his or that Melissa is Mel Jones' child. He spoke to Jenkins "Ask your wife about who the fathers of David and Melissa are. Neither child is mine, you are the father of David. Isn't it sweet she named him after you? I don't know the father of Melissa but I am guessing it is someone with a name like Melvin or Milton. After you talk with Linda I suggest you get DNA testing on the two children you think you fathered. "

David Jenkins walked out of the office a sad beaten man. John and Daniel sat down, Daniel asked John "Do you have any liquor in this office?" John shook his head. Daniel continued "I think I would rather be Mel Jones than David Jenkins right now. " John nodded in agreement.

Daniel asked "Well Boss was it worth it? Did this give you the satisfaction you wanted? Do you feel better getting revenge on the men who cuckolded you?

John looked out the window and after a few moments turned back to Daniel. He spoke softly "Daniel you don't understand. What these men did with Linda doesn't matter to me. I don't care that they fucked Linda. I don't care that they took Linda from me. The other night as I rocked William I realized I couldn't stand the fact they took David and Melissa from me. I loved them both totally and completely the first time I held them. They took my children from me."

As Daniel walked out the office John added "And thank your brother for the use of his car."

John left work early and went home to Donna. He asked Donna to sit down and told her the whole story. He confessed to his crime and he begged her to forgive him.

Donna looked at the sweet man she had married. She had to almost drag him to the altar because of the bitch he had divorced. She asked him "Are you going to do anything to Linda?"

John shook his head and said "No I'm done."

Donna was happy. She knew that he didn't care enough about Linda to do anything to her. Donna told John "You should have told me earlier. In Louisiana we turn bulls like Jones into steers."

Donna said "William is our first but he wouldn't be our last. My body is built for fucking and birthing and I look forward to doing both with you and only you for a long time."

John held his hotheaded Cajun gal. He kissed her and said "Well since William is napping can we do that first thing you said your body was made for?"

Epilogue

Mel Jones needed almost two years to recover from his injuries. No one was ever arrested in connection with the crime.

Jenkins Mechanical did survive the loss of Franklin Enterprises business. The loss of several of his best employees also hurt the company. David Jenkins rolled up his sleeves and went back to work as a technician.

His marriage to Linda did not survive. Apparently David Franklin was the only one of the four children that was biologically his.

John reintroduced himself to his ex-in-laws. For the next several years Linda's Mother and Father were able to financially help their grandchildren whenever there was a need. David and Melissa never knew the identity of the man who often came by when they visited their Grandparents.

John and Donna Franklin had five more children after William. They never stopped using Donna's body for what it was built for.